The journal of all that is useless and unnecessary en Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:26:00 GMT Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:26:00 GMT Copyright 2001-2006 The Daily Sedative http://dailysedative.com/wire/tinylogo.gif http://dailysedative.com 120 16 /content/877_iraq_focus_we_should_keep_doing_what_weve_always_been_doing.html Experts like George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney say that the right approach in Iraq is to continue existing techniques and strategy unchanged.<br /> "Now is the time to keep going forward unwavering," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a speech this week. "We should keep doing things the same way, without trying any less or more than before."<br /> "I think it's frankly out of the question to consider some other, crazy untested strategy," said Vice-President Dick Cheney in response to a reporter's question. "It could be dangerous to take some kind of shift at this time." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraq_focus" rel="tag">Iraq Focus</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraqi_civil_war" rel="tag">Iraqi Civil War</a></i> Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:26:00 GMT /content/876_iraq_focus_report_says_iraqi_language_may_be_barrier.html A new State Department report released this week said that language barriers may be one factor in the country's reconstruction woes.<br /> "Iraqis use a strange, incomprehensible series of meaningless phonemes to communicate. Needless to say, it's very difficult to understand," the report said. "Iraqis may communicate much more efficiently with a language like English, which is easy to learn and use."<br /> State Department Deputy Secretary Ronald Zoellick explained, "There may in fact be no one 'Iraqi language,' but they may even speak a number of different strange languages, if you can believe that. All the more reason for them to standardize on the English language for their own use." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraq_focus" rel="tag">Iraq Focus</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=linguistics" rel="tag">Linguistics</a></i> Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:15:00 GMT /content/875_cloned_pigs_could_make_better_politicians.html This week a group of university researchers made headlines when they announced they created cloned pigs that could produce heart-disease fighting nutrients, opening the door to healthier bacon and pork chops.<br /> Soon after, however, a group of bio-political scientists announced they had created a strain of cloned pigs that could make healthier, more efficient politicians.<br /> "While the findings are still highly theoretical, it's still a very big leap," said Alexis Lemont, a genetic sociologist. "Imagine these cloned pigs, drafting and voting on legislation in an all-ungulate Congress," she continued. "Believe it or not, we think this technology is not that far off." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=congress" rel="tag">Congress</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=science" rel="tag">Science</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=cloning" rel="tag">Cloning</a></i> Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:04:00 GMT /content/874_next_3_years_of_corruption_and_ineptitude_a_difficult_struggle.html In speeches this week marking the three-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, President Bush lauded the effort so far but conceded that the next three years of incompetence and degeneracy will be a "difficult struggle."<br /> "I understand how some Americans have had their confidence shaken," the President told the City Club in Cleveland Monday. "However, they should know that the next several years of the war will be just as bogus and tragic."<br /> The President held off on calling to withdraw troops. "Decisions regarding future calamity and ineptitude will be made by future presidents and Iraqi leaders." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraq_war" rel="tag">Iraq War</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=corruption" rel="tag">Corruption</a></i> Tue, 21 Mar 2006 23:38:00 GMT /content/873_milosevic_condemns_gods_authority.html Slobodan Milosevic, who died earlier today, strongly refuses the authority of God to hold him in the afterlife.<br /> Milosevic has been described as "defiant" as refuses to reognize God's judgment. "This is a sham and I do not accept it," Milosevic is reported to have said. "This is a lawless act of political expediency."<br /> Milosevic also insists that he is still the president of Serbia. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=slobodan_milosevic" rel="tag">Slobodan Milosevic</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=god" rel="tag">God</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=obituary" rel="tag">Obituary</a></i> Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:42:00 GMT /content/872_norton_to_resign_will_clear_forests_in_her_private_life.html Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned this afternoon. In a letter to President Bush, she said she looked forward to spending more time clearing forests and drilling for oil and gas with her family.<br /> The first woman to hold that office, she turns 52 tomorrow. In her private life she hopes to find "overgrown" forests and harvest them for timber, she said in an email.<br /> "There is always more work to be done," she said. "I'm always excited about permitting mining operations, and look forward to doing so with my family." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=gale_norton" rel="tag">Gale Norton</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=resignation" rel="tag">Resignation</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=oil" rel="tag">Oil</a></i> Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:59:00 GMT /content/871_alabama_church_fires_was_drinking_involved.html Residents of Alabama breath a sigh of relief earlier this week when the suspects of several church fires were apprehended. However, authorities have unveiled a darker possibility: were the church burners drinking?<br /> "I find it a little hard to believe," said Atlanta resident James Biggs, "that a crazed plot like this could involve drinking."<br /> Investigators say the involvement of alcohol did not help to narrow down the search. "Yes, drinking may have been present in these situations," said Harry Freedman, an FBI agent assigned to the case. "However, research has shown that virtually all activities in Alabama are in some way aided and abetted by alcohol."<br /> If there is enough evidence for allegation, the suspects may face additional charges of church burning while intoxicated, or more serious, charges of church burning while inebriated. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=alabama_church_burnings" rel="tag">Alabama Church Burnings</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=alcohol" rel="tag">Alcohol</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=crime" rel="tag">Crime</a></i> Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:52:00 GMT /content/870_iraqifor.html Donald Rumsfeld assured Senators this week that any Iraqi civil war would be Iraqi-led.<br /> "The plan is to ... have the Iraqi security forces deal with it, to the extent they are able to," Rumsfeld said in a committee hearing this week. "The US forces will provide only logistical and aerial support."<br /> Rumsfeld said this arrangement would provide a natural advantage for US foreign policy, since it would free up US troops to participate in other quagmires in the region. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraqi_civil_war" rel="tag">Iraqi Civil War</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=donald_rumsfeld" rel="tag">Donald Rumsfeld</a></i> Thu, 09 Mar 2006 17:51:00 GMT /content/869_policear.html Police and federal authorities have arrested three suburban youths in an investigation of the hilarious arson of several churches in Alabama. One of the suspects said the three set the houses of worship ablaze "as a joke".<br /> "Man, we all thought it was really funny," said Rob Davis of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "Then, after all the laughter had settled, we started to wonder: were these church burnings illegal? That's when we started our investigation."<br /> "We all know how jokes can get out of hand, leading to farcical episodes or in this case, deliberate arson," said prominent legal expert Jonas Salt. "It does not remain clear whether the judge will take this into account during sentencing or parole." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=crime" rel="tag">Crime</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=humor" rel="tag">Humor</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=alabama_church_burnings" rel="tag">Alabama Church Burnings</a></i> Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:58:00 GMT /content/868_uschides.html Today the United States issued a stark warning to Iran if it continues its controversial cheese sandwich enrichment program. Iran insists it will continue its flavor-related policies regardless.<br /> "[That] cheese sandwich is already exploding with flavor," said Vice President Dick Cheney in a speech on Tuesday, who called Iran's program "reckless and irresponsible." "Any continutation of this dangerous cheese enrichment program will lead to meaningful consequences," he continued.<br /> Previous treaties have limited cheese sandwich enrichment to the original "cheese sandwich club": France, Great Britain, the United States, Russia and China. However, Iran is not a signatory to this document. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=Iran" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=diplomacy" rel="tag">Diplomacy</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=food" rel="tag">Food</a></i> Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:47:00 GMT /content/867_iraqisov.html Many ordinary Iraqis facing an Iraqi civil war report being heady with nostalgia for the momentous precipice on the country now stands.<br /> "With countless sectarian quasi-terrorist factions tearing the families apart, the ubiquitous melancholy is quite palpable," said Omar Ghazaliya, a hospital worker in Bagdad. "You know that in some families, some brothers fight for one quasi-terrorist sectarian faction, while another will fight for a different quasi-terrorist sectarian faction?"<br /> Some Iraqis, however, bristle at the term "civil war" to describe the current conflict. "The term 'civil war' is misleading and offensive," said Jalal Khalil, a leading Iraqi scholar. "We prefer the term, War between the Countless Quasi-terrorist Sectarian Factions." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraqi_civil_war" rel="tag">Iraqi Civil War</a></i> Tue, 07 Mar 2006 22:08:00 GMT /content/866_sourcesi.html With Iraq staring down the barrel of civil war after the bombing and destruction of a sacred Shiite mosque and a week of brutal terrorist attacks, insiders in Washington are saying that rival Iraqi insurgent groups will greet each other as liberators.<br /> "I am reasonably certain that these countless, warring terrorist factions will see each other as liberators," said leading neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz in an address to the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday. "And that will help keep the requirements down."<br /> Sources say that the United States and its allies are already making plans based on similar assumptions, lifting the mood in Washington weary from so much bad news from Iraq. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraq_war" rel="tag">Iraq War</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=paul_wolfowitz" rel="tag">Paul Wolfowitz</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=iraqi_civil_war" rel="tag">Iraqi Civil War</a></i> Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:33:00 GMT /content/865_bushlook.html President Bush, faced with his approval rating hitting historic lows, is looking to the Nixon era for advice, according to aides. According to a CBS News poll, the President's image has dropped to just 34%.<br /> "Nixon's approval rating was as low as 24 percent, yet he must have survived somehow," Bush is reported to have said. "How did he do it?" <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=george_w._bush" rel="tag">George W. Bush</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=richard_nixon" rel="tag">Richard Nixon</a></i> Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:22:00 GMT /content/864_republic.html Republican legislators in Congress are creating massive and intricate GOP-only prisons in a series of bills presented in the past weeks.<br /> "I couldn't live without a fax machine," said Bob Ney (R-OH) reviewing specs of the new prison cells. Ney is expected to be indicted in the coming weeks for his involvement in the growing Jack Abramoff scandal.<br /> Such lavish oubliettes come at a price, say insiders, and with a growing sense of urgency in Washington over financial scandals legislators have awarded large, no-bids contracts to companies such as Halliburton so that the new facilities can be constructed quickly. <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=GOP" rel="tag">GOP</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=bob_ney" rel="tag">Bob Ney</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=jack_abramoff" rel="tag">Jack Abramoff</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=corruption" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=crime" rel="tag">Crime</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=halliburton" rel="tag">Halliburton</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=congress" rel="tag">Congress</a></i> Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:16:00 GMT /content/863_uscelebr.html Just after 2:00 am Friday morning, a North Carolina man became the 1000th to be executed since the practice was legalized in 1976, of which only a few were exonerated after the fact.<br /> "The 1000th execution is a victory for victim's rights," said Michael Paranzino, President of the pro-death penalty group Throw Away the Key. "And with new technology we're getting better and better at knowing who's guilty and who isn't every day."<br /> An Amnesty International spokesman admitted that most death penalty cases are not ultimately overturned. "Since 1976, about one in eight prisoners on death row in the U.S. has been exonerated," said William F. Schulz, the group's executive director. "While we're sure that most of them were guilty, we believe this occasion is the perfect time to reconsider the whole issue of execution." <br /><br /><i>Tags: <a href="/tag.php?tag=death_penalty" rel="tag">Death Penalty</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=north_carolina" rel="tag">North Carolina</a>, <a href="/tag.php?tag=amnesty_international" rel="tag">Amnesty International</a></i> Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:33:00 GMT